11/02/2014 World News Today

This is BBC World News Today with me, Philippa Thomas. David Cameron

cancels his trip to the Middle East to deal with the worst English

flooding in decades. It's been the most exceptional period of rain in

the UK for more than 200 years - with at least 1,000 homes evacuated

and in some areas tempers are rising as fast as the floodwaters. It is

about time someone does something and come out and don't leave us

stranded. Men and boys have been detained by the Syrian authorities

during the evacuation of Homs. The Governor there says some could face

arrest and trial. We'll get the latest from inside that besieged

city. Also coming up: He may be having a difficult time at home, but

it's a warm welcome at the White House for France's President

Hollande. Saying goodbye to Hollywood sweetheart Shirley Temple

who sang and danced her way into the hearts of Depression-era America and

died today at the age of 85. Hello and welcome. 1,600 troops are

on standby as severe flood alerts affect towns and villages along the

River Thames - after what the Prime Minister David Cameron described

today as the wettest English winter for 250 years. Roads and rail tracks

are under water, more than 1,000 homes have been evacuated and Mr

Cameron has cancelled his planned visit to the Middle East to focus on

what has become a political and logistical emergency. Let's give you

an idea of the impact of the flooding now with our correspondent.

He is in Berkshire. I'm in the Thames Valley and communities from

here where I am in Marlow down stream towards London are feeling

the full impact of the floods. It has been raining so much the ground

is so water-logged the river levels have been rising so fast that many

homes have been flooded and more are at risk. In this town, some

residents are saying they haven't seen it as bad as this for 40 years.

We have seen pumps being set up and the army coming in, people

sandbagging their homes and businesses. But many people say that

all of this is rather too late. But more resources are being brought in.

Jon Kay reports. High visibility - a Prime Minister keen to be seen.

Visiting Devon's fractured railway line, insisting he will get

storm-batter Britain back on track. If money needs to be spent, it will

be spent. If resources are required, we will provide them. If the

military can help they will be there. We must do everything, but it

is going to take time to get things right. Next stop - Taunton. The

Prime Minister had cancelled today's cabinet meeting to be here instead.

In this control room the response to the Somerset Levels flooding has

been co-ordinated and after all the criticism and blame, a chance to

show a united front. A bit of welcome sunshine in Somerset today.

But many here told us they wanted Mr Cameron to spend some of Britain's

foreign aid budget helping flood victims at home. Some of the

millions that is being sent to help people abroad, OK people abroad need

help. We do here. This part of the country is in chaos. The school

where Nicky teaches was closed by flooding today and she told she she

wants to see more led leadership from the Prime Minister. I think

he's panicking, because he doesn't quite know what to do. And it is an

unusual situation and I do realise we are experiencing unusual weather,

however there are still people cut off and people without provision. If

David Cameron thought the South West was wet, wait until he reached the

Thames Valley. In Staines he surprised people living on flooded

Guilford Street. Mr Cameron has been in there holding a private meeting

with residents about the state of their overflowing drains. Not the

kind of think you would expect a Prime Minister to be dealing with

himself. Burr he knows that his leadership will be judged by the way

he deals with this whole wider crisis. And those who met him today

agree. If action's not taken then all we can do is vote. Really it

will make a difference to the way you vote? Yeah, I will vote for

whoever fixes this problem. From Guilford Street, back to Downing

Street and this message tonight. There is absolutely no sign of this

threat abating. And with further rain and strong winds forecast

throughout the week, things may well get worse before they get better.

The Prime Minister announced he was cancelling his trip to the Middle

East next week. Instead he will deal with the crisis in middle England.

We could be talking about a lot of resources in the short and

long-term. Where is it going to come from? Well, these two separate

issues - the short and long-term. The Prime Minister said money was no

object in terms of dealing with what needs to be done now. There will be

questions about which budget that comes from. And then there is the

issue about what should be done to make sure this doesn't happen again,

or at least happen on this scale. That is not an issue just for here

in the Thames Valley, but also in the South West, where there has been

flooding for weeks now. Calms for more dredge - calls for more

dredging and flood defences there. That is more costly and involves a

lot more long-term commitment. Thank you. Let's talk to BBC Weather

presenter Nina Ridge. One reason we are leading with this story, it is

not just a weather event in Britain. This is sustained rain faufl having

a -- rain fall having a damaging effect. Are we looking at climate

change? As yet we have no tive answer. But there are some

fundamental laws of physics that we can't get away from. As the world

warms, which it has been doing, it will hold more water and many

studies will indicate that we should inspect -- expect more intense ra

fall as a result. There are studies which have forecasted that Atlantic

storms would get more intense and have a more southerly track. That

would fit with the pattern we have had this winter. You have been

looking at patterns of weather around the world. How do they lock

together? The different stories we have had through different

continents. Yes, it is global weather. The weather we have been

here we can link back to things in the Pacific. It has been unusually

warm in the Pacific, which has brought enhanced rain fall across

Indonesia. And then the jet stream has given cold air across Canada,

central United States and Texas. In turn the jet stream across the North

Atlantic has been intensified and set across parts of southern UK.

That is why we have so many storms. And why you tell us to expect for

this winter in the northern hemisphere more unsettled weather?

Yes there is more unsettled weather. For the UK next week perhaps drier.

But over all the jet stream looks stuck in place for a while yet. So

there is a difficulty for politicians and planners in trying

to work out what to do. The ground is soed soen, you -- wet you can't

pump it away. We are expecting around a month's worth of rain still

to fall by the end of Friday. It is a huge amount of water that has

nowhere to go. Thank you. United Nations aid agencies say they're

concerned about what's happening to the men and boys among the hundreds

of civilians evacuated from the Syrian city of Homs - a city where

people have been living in desperate circumstances under siege for the

last 18 months. Large numbers of the men trying to leave during a locally

agreed ceasefire have been detained for what the Syrian authorities call

screening. Let's try to go to Homs now and speak with the UN's

Humanitarian Coordinator Yacoub el Hillo. Thank you for speaking to us.

Is it your understanding that the evacuation process is still under

way? Thank you very much. It has been under way for the last three or

four days and we have over a thousand people have come out of the

old city of Homs. Into the larger city. This is a part of a deal that

was agreed by and Government of Syria and the opposition groups

inside the old city, which also provide this agreement for the

delivery of humanitarian assistance inside the old city of Homs.

Something that we have been able to partially achieve two days ago. So

yes, people have been able to come out. And some partial achievement

has been realised in delivering aid to the old city after what some

calculated as 600 days. Are you concerned about what's happening to

these men and teenage boys, they seem to be being separated from

their families as they leave Homs? When they arrive, or when a they

leave do you mean? Well I will take your information from the ground,

but what we have been hearing is it as they leave the city, the men and

boys are being taken aside and detained, questioned. Well, we have

been actually running this exercise, this humanitarian exercise since the

world go. And by we, I mean the UN agencies, as well as our partners,

the Syrian Red Cross and Syrian remember crescent. At no moment have

we actually men or... Are separated from their families. There is a

facility prepared to receive families leaving the old city. But

since all of the families that have come out so far opted to go

elsewhere. In and around Homs city. The shelter, or the transit facility

was available to receive these men, who are they? They are men under the

age of 55, but maems whose age is 16 years and above. -- males. We were

actually quite impressed that quite a number of males in this category

chose to come out and that was the day bhfr yesterday -- before

yesterday and even more yesterday. So the agreement with the Syrian

Government was the arrival of these individuals came outside the pe

rammer thes of the humanitarian - parameters of the humanitarian

arrangement. But they will transferred with their families to

this transit facility. That is where they are now. Many left today after

having gone through the process of regularising their statements and

checking if there was anything outstanding in their name while they

were not able to be here out of the old city. 111 have left that

facility, many with their families. So they were not separated. It is

good to get the late fres you -- latest from you. Thank you. The US

President Barack Obama today described the situation in Syria as

fluid, saying Washington does not see a military solution to the

situation there. He was speaking during his joint news conference

with the French president Francois Hollande - after the two leaders

held policy talks in the Oval Office. This visit marks a new era

in US-French relations, which sank to a low a decade ago over the Iraq

war. But Mr Obama was careful to be diplomatic when asked which European

ally matters most to Washington. I have two daughters! And they're both

gorgeous and wonderful. And I would never choose between them. And that

is how I feel about my outstanding European partners. All of them are

wonderful in their own ways. Now, to the serious part of the question,

what I do believe is that the US/French alliance has never been

stronger. And the levels of co-operation that we are seeing

across a whole range of issues is much deeper than it was I think five

years ago, ten years ago, 20 years ago. With me is Eric Albert, a

London-based French Journalist working for Radio France and Le

Monde. Now a look at some of the days other news. Which matters

really matter to President Obama? The one thing for sure there is no

big disagreement like there was on Iraq ten years ago. There is no big

frontal kis a-- disagreement and there has been quite a few

agreements on what France does in Africa in Mali and the central

republic of Africa. France went there and the US, Barack Obama is

happy to let France do it with some support, but not too much. Barack

Obama ips not like -- is not like George Bush, somebody who wants to

intervene. And the European influence in Africa so, he can step

back. Yes. And the relationship is warmer, friendlier than before. It

is better than the cheese surrender monkeys of the George Bush era. But

there was no big treaty, no big trade agreement. Relationships are

fine. It doesn't mean we are at a turning point or anything concrete

has changed. Do you think there is any anguish in France? In Britain

there is a worry about what happened to the special relationship with

America looking to China for example. Do the French care as much?

There was this fighting between France and the US. Britain almost

wanted to beat the special friend. Barack Obama, he said he has two

daughters and will not choose between them. The real shift is,

Barack Obama is shifting towards the West, shifting towards retreating in

places like Africa and Syria. President Hollande wanted to strike

in Syria, Oregon Obama was the one who stopped it. France has a

slightly friendlier relationship with America. Also, to be treated

with dignity over the runaround by the international media over his

private life? His private life has probably been more played on

international media than in France. The page has turned. He dumped his

girlfriend, it is over. He is a single man. He has no first lady

being paid by the state. So things have gone back to a normal state of

affairs now. So he can talk about the important things like Syria and

Iran and climate change? That is one thing they are both trying to move

forward. There will be a big climate change summit next year in France.

With the US summit on board, aims might change. We will have to leave

it there, but thank you. A moment of history for Beijing and

Taipei today. Two capitals embarking on their highest level meeting since

the end of China's civil war in 1949. Since the 50s Taiwan has

called itself the Republic of China. Beijing has always insisted it has

territorial rights over the island and has refused to rule out military

force to take it over. But Taiwan's Minister of Mainland Affairs is in

Nanjing on the Chinese mainland for talks with his opposite number.

Could it be the key step towards normalised relations? Emily Buchanan

reports. Carefully choreographed, the first

handshake between two historic rivals. It is a big step between

China and Taiwan, set symbolically in Nanjing, China's B for the

Communists took over. The tables were laid out in perfect symmetry

with no provocative flags. TRANSLATION: we need to apply a bit

of creativity if we want to achieve a breakthrough in the relationship.

We need to make efforts to make meetings like this happen. Taiwan's

delegate was equally conciliar tree. TRANSLATION: we are able to sit down

for a meeting to discuss issues concerning both sides and we should

cherish this peaceful and stable momentum. I hope we can further

promote the relationship on the basis of the consensus reached

previously. Civil war and revolutions split the

Chinese people. Chinese and Taiwan have had separate government since

1949. The defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan. China still considers

Taiwan part of its territory, but Taiwan has never formally given up

its claim to be the rightful government of China. But in 1971

Taiwan lost its seat to China. In 1979 it received a further blow when

the US officially recognised the people's Republic of China in

Beijing. Recently, relations have been boring since 2008. Two years

later, the president oversaw a trade pact with China, but many Taiwanese

worried it was the first step in being taken over by Beijing. In

spite of the diplomatic niceties, there are still lingering doubts

about Taiwan's future sovereign tree.

More than 100 people are feared dead in Algeria after a military

transport plane crashed. One survivor was found. Bad weather was

suggested as a possible cause. It went down in a mountainous area in

the East of Algeria. The organisers of the World Cup in

cat have published a charter of workers right after fever urged the

state to revise its working practices. It is alleged 155

Nepalese workers died there last year in work-related incidents.

India has lifted its ban on the Russian Olympics. Fresh elections

were conducted on Sunday which was seen as fair and the lifting of the

ban means Indian athletes in Sochi who had been competing under the IOC

flag can now compete under their national flag instead.

It is the fourth day of the Winter Olympics in the Russian Black Sea

resort of Sochi. Snowboarding legend Shaun White pulled out of the

Slopestyle event earlier in The Games to focus on the men's half

pipe. Tulsen Tollett is in the BBC Sports Centre. How did he get on?

Not great. He was looking for his third consecutive gold medal. Shaun

White won the last two Olympic Games, bidding for his third gold

medal. His first run, unfortunately he fell. He could not get the

victory. His second run was not good enough. He finished in fourth. The

man who won is from Switzerland and who is factually known as iPod. He

has been a big rival of Shaun White over the past few years. The

15-year-old Japanese in there as well, who came in third place. The

move which one it the iPod was called a yo-yo. I will not explain

to you how it was because it was very difficult. The big event on

Tuesday was the women's downhill ski jumping. The first time since the

1924 Winter Olympic games this has been introduced. The Japanese,

17-year-old was the favourite. The world number one. But she could only

manage fourth. The winner was from Germany who was the last to go with

a combined score of 247.4, which gained her the victory. There were

eight gold medals on offer on Tuesday. Six others to speak of. If

you want the information on those, go to our website.

The actress Shirley Temple has died at the age of 85 after a career

which you could say peaked at the age of five. The former Hollywood

child star helped to raise American morale during the Great Depression

of the early 1930s and later became a US diplomat to Africa and Europe.

David Sillito looks back at her life.

With her ringlets, dimples and talent, Shirley Temple was a child

star without equal. Indeed she was Hollywood's biggest star in the late

30s. Her innocent charm one box office magic. But her mother,

Gertrude, had started her out in the less than wholesome baby burlesque.

She was only four years old at the time. It wasn't long before she got

the chance to show off her real talent for song and dance.

Her popularity saved the FOX studios from bankruptcy and her optimistic

films where an escape from the hard times of the 30s. Surely got her

first car. It it is a shame she cannot run it anywhere else but in

the studio grounds. She drives like a grown-up woman. She appeared to

have everything and even had her own baby Oscar. What she did not have a

friend is her own age. Mummy, can we go now? When she missed out on The

Wizard of Oz to Judy Garland, it was the beginning of the end of her

career and her well. She was just 12. Out of the $3,200,000 that I had

earned from everything, all sales and books and things, I had $44,000

left in a trust account. I wasn't upset, I was shocked. After her

first marriage failed and her career stalled, she remarried and

re-emerged into public life. I am dedicating my life and my energies

to public service because I think our country needs it now more than

it ever has before. And I want to help. Shirley Temple Black. Shirley

Temple Black moved into politics and became an ambassador to Ghana and

checkers are back here, as well as the White House Chief of Protocol.

It was a startling reinvention, but whatever she did, most people will

always remember her as America's little princess.

Oh M Douglas! We will end the programme of a royal

visit to our own newsroom. Prince Charles and Camilla were given a

tour of the BBC and they met editors and producers working on our

television and radio programmes. And also the World Service programme

which will launch on Monday. They are doing rehearsals for that at the

moment. This is World News Today. From me

and the rest of the team, thanks for being with us.

Whilst we are continuing to be concerned about the amount of

rainfall, there is also likely to be sleet and snow through the night and